Farming kangaroos instead of sheep and cattle in Australia could cut by almost a quarter the greenhouse gases produced by grazing livestock, which account for 11 percent of the nation's annual emissions, a new study by University of New South Wales states.
According to this study removing seven million cattle and 36 million sheep by 2020 and replacing them with 175 million kangaroos, to produce the same amount of meat, could lower national greenhouse gases by 3 percent a year.
Methane from the foregut of cattle and sheep constitutes 11 percent of Australia's total greenhouse emissions, but kangaroos produce negligible amounts of methane, the study says.
According to the study methane is a principal concern in climate change because more than 500 million metric tons of the gas entered the atmosphere annually, which exceeds the amount that can be naturally removed.
But, I thought it was CO2 – at least so we are being told. In fact maybe cutting down on the hot air produced by many of the experts and the conferences they attend, as well as on the hot air generated by our respective parliaments might help also in cooling the planet.
Let's be serious again, however.
The Aborigines, I believe, have hunted and eaten kangaroo for ever and a day prior to the arrival of the Europeans with their cattle, sheep and rabbits. Now that was a stupid idea, the rabbits, I mean, and it has been show already that roos can be farmed, same as emus, the latter which also provide very good meat indeed.
The study said farmers had few options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions other than changing feed stock, reducing livestock numbers or changing species. The study cited the growth of wildlife industries such as springbok farming in South Africa, red deer in Britain and bison in the United States.
"Using kangaroos to produce low-emission meat is an option for the Australian rangelands...and could even have global application," said the study.
The other alternative would, as many vegetarians and vegans would advocate now, I know that, to go entirely over to vegetables. However, it is a known fact – and no, folks, don't shout at me, it is a fact – that we could not feed the entire world with just fruit and vegetables.
So, if we really have a problem with those gases, which as far as CO2 is concerned for me the jury is still out and also when we consider that a study from an Australian University has also found that the warming of the planet has in fact plateaued out and the temperature have not rise, not even by a fraction, for the last six to seven years, then we must change our livestock farming practices.
Farmed wild animals, of which ever kind, seem to be better adjusted to make use of the range conditions that there are and therefore should be able to produce a better produce on less input than do cattle or sheep.
OK, so what do we do for wool then? No wool on roos. Mind you, I can do without sheep wool, as I am allergic to it.
© M Smith (Veshengro), August 2008
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